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Recent News

The new collective bargaining agreement has done away with the rule giving homefield advantage in the World Series to the league that wins the All-Star Game.

Great news for fans of logic and reason. It was truly one of the dumbest things in professional sports. Homefield advantage for the World Series will now be determined by the pennant winner with the best regular-season record, as it should be. Also a major new part of the new CBA: the minimum (non-concussion) disabled list stint is now 10 games instead of 15. Dec 1 - 8:51 AM

Multiple outlets are reporting that MLB and the MLBPA have agreed on a new, five-year collective bargaining agreement.

Baseball fans can breathe easy, as it looks like there will be no threat of a work stoppage any time in the near future. Per the New York Post's Joel Sherman, the luxury tax threshold will open at around $195 million and rise over the course of the new agreement to eventually bring it to approximately $210-215 million. Sherman further relays that there will be a penalty of 60-70% for those who exceed that threshold by a significant margin. Also of note in the new CBA, while free-agent compensation will still take place in the form of the signing team surrendering a draft pick, first-round picks will no longer be in play on that front. There was also discussion of increasing the 25-man roster to 26, but that ultimately did not come to pass. Nov 30 - 9:07 PM

Mike Trout was named as the winner of the AL MVP Award by the Baseball Writers Association of America on Thursday.

Trout received 19 out of the 30 first-place votes. Mookie Betts received nine-first place votes and finished second in the balloting. Jose Altuve didn't receive any first-place votes and finished third. David Ortiz and Adrian Beltre received the other first-place votes. The thought was that Trout would be penalized for playing for a team who lost 88 games, but his production carried the day in the end. That’s how it should be. Trout once again proved to be the best player in the sport this season. He led the American League in OPS+, walks, on-base percentage, and runs scored while batting .315/.441/.550 with 29 homers, 100 RBI, and 30 stolen bases. He was also a quality defender and provided value on the bases. This is his second career MVP award, though there is obviously the case to be made that he should have more by now. He’s now finished second or higher in MVP balloting in each of his first five full seasons in the majors. Nov 17 - 6:19 PM

According to Joel Sherman of the New York Post, the United States team for the World Baseball Classic has failed "to get anything more than maybes" from Mike Trout and Bryce Harper.

A preliminary 50-player list had to be submitted in October, and Trout and Harper were not on it. Sherman notes that final WBC rosters are not due until January, but Trout or Harper joining late "would mean to give someone who has given a commitment the heave-ho, which would be bad form." Among the players who have committed: Clayton Kershaw, Noah Syndergaard, Chris Archer, Nolan Arenado, Jake Arrieta, Kris Bryant, Eric Hosmer, Ian Kinsler, Corey Kluber, Jonathan Lucroy, Andrew Miller, Buster Posey, David Price, Max Scherzer, Giancarlo Stanton, Justin Verlander, Dellin Betances, and Christian Yelich. Nov 1 - 5:52 PM

Albert Pujols underwent successful surgery on Friday to release his right plantar fascia.

The surgery was performed by Dr. Robert Anderson in North Carolina. The typical recovery time for this surgery is estimated at four months, which will impact his availability early in spring training as well as his regular off-season routine. This news should push Pujols down a couple of rounds in early fantasy drafts.

Angels manager Mike Scioscia said that the team will not overwork Garrett Richards (elbow) in 2017.

Richards underwent stem cell treatment for a tear in his ulnar collateral ligament in May, ending his season at that very early juncture. He is expected to be ready for spring training, but the Angels are going to be reasonably cautious as the season unfolds. Said Scioscia, "You’re not going to see Garrett throwing 220 innings next year. I hate to put a floor on (the innings) and have to get into a range right now, but I can tell you that we are going to be very, very careful with where Garrett is and make sure that he rebounds and maintains his stuff." Richards has pitched more than 170 innings just once in his big league career.

Cam Bedrosian underwent surgery Tuesday on the embolus in his right armpit.

Embolus is the scientific term for a blood clot. Bedrosian is expected to be able to resume full baseball activities in 6-8 weeks, so he should enter spring training next February at 100 percent health. The 24-year-old right-hander finished the 2016 season with a stellar 1.12 ERA and 51/14 K/BB ratio in 40 1/3 innings.